Childbirth care

Historically, women have delivered at home and been attended and supported by other women during labour and delivery . However, the majority of women in our countries nowadays give birth in hospitals, where labour and delivery are regarded as medical events.
In recent years women and social movements, as well as health policy-makers, have called not only for making childbirth more natural, but also for continuous support by and for women during labour.
The benefits of continuous labour support in terms of maternal and perinatal outcomes are clear: women have more spontaneous vaginal birth, shorter duration of labour, less use of labour analgesia, fewer caesarean sections and instrumental deliveries and less babies with low 5-minute Apgar scores. Additionally, women express more satisfaction with birth experience.